Türkiye entered the last weeks of April with stagnation in the foreign exchange market. The Grand Bazaar, the heart of the foreign exchange markets, opened its doors to buyers by falling 1.5-2 liras below the exchange rate determined by the Central Bank due to the long-term stagnation.
Milli Gazete went to the Grand Bazaar to follow the issue locally and evaluated the current economic situation with the tradesmen of the Grand Bazaar and received information about the foreign exchange market.
Making evaluations about the situation, Grand Bazaar tradesmen stated that the state's increase in deposit interest above the 50 percent band was the biggest factor in the inactivity in the foreign exchange market, and that citizens moved away from foreign exchange investments and invested their money in interest.
“THE STATE IS OPENLY PUSHING ITS NATION TO HARAM”
Speaking about the current economic situation and the foreign exchange market, a tradesman in Grand Bazaar, "I have been a Grand Bazaar tradesman for 40 years. You don't need to be a tradesman here to see the gravity of the situation. When you look at the general picture, it is possible to see everything. The state acted with the mistaken belief that the country and its citizens would be economically relieved by increasing the deposit interest rate above 50 percent. The state is openly pushing its people towards haram. This is largely the reason for the inactivity in the foreign exchange market, but its impact on the country may be much heavier in the next 3-4 months. The decrease in deposit interest rates suddenly causes a tendency towards foreign currency, which means an increase in the dollar and euro. The weakening of purchasing power and the depreciation of TL seem inevitable again," he said.
“PURCHASING POWER IS INDEXED TO THE DOLLAR, OUR COUNTRY WILL SUFFER”
Tradesman S.K. stated that the Grand Bazaar has been the heart of foreign exchange for many years and that they can foresee what will happen in the economy.
"Türkiye cannot save itself from its economic dependence on foreign sources. The USA will reduce deposit interest rates next June. When the deposit interest rate in the USA decreases, deposit interest rates all over the world will decrease. The USA will simultaneously start collecting foreign currency from the world. When the news of the rise in the dollar and euro begins to come, citizens will withdraw their money deposited in TL for deposit interest and look for foreign currency. The demand for foreign currency will be high, but when the supply is limited, the exchange rate will rise. Since purchasing power is indexed to the dollar, our country will suffer again. These are my opinions based on my experiences, the economy will not improve this way," the tradesman added.
“THE STEPS TAKEN ARE TOWARDS MAKING THE RICH MORE RICH.”
One of the tradesmen who evaluated the steps taken in the economic field in our country, spoke as follows:
"While the steps taken by our state in the field of economy are aimed at making people with wealth richer, they lead to the constant oppression of our middle-class and low-income citizens. This increase in deposit interest rates benefits people with a certain financial status. So, how can these banks give interest at these rates? Our beloved nation does not need to think about the current situation. I think it can be understood just by looking."